Why I love jackets

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Maria

I love jackets.  I love the idea that I can throw on a basic black top over jeans and then top the whole thing off with a jacket.  Suddenly I’m dressed up, or at least a little more put together.

I think most women are like me.  We’re busy with jobs and family.  We have hardly enough time to feed ourselves, let alone spend hours shopping or planning what we should wear each day.

A jacket can keep us warm in the winter and in air conditioning.  A jacket can be rolled up and thrown in a brief case or handbag.  A reversible jacket can save us space in our suitcases when we’re traveling and time when we have to dress for multiple occasions.

So here’s to all you busy women out there who want to look like you spend hours putting yourselves together but have other things that have to be done first.  Maybe, with a few Jackets in your closet, you can have time to grab a pedi or a massage or maybe even some lunch.

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HELP! I’M ON VACATION IN FLORIDA AND I’M FREEZING!

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Maria

Seriously!  This is not the place to be for a Northeasterner whose eternal quest is to be warm.  The air conditioning is insufferable!  It seems different than the air conditioning in the Northeast.  Here it blasts hard and direct and only on me.  That’s what it seems, at least.  It’s like I’m always sitting just where the cold blast is directed.  And it’s either only on my face or my shoulders or my lap.  I know it’s only on me because I look around and everybody else seems comfortable.  But when I change my seat, it’s as if  it follows me and only me.

You know I’m only kidding, but it is a continous problem for me down here.  I know other people must have the same complaint.  So why is it so difficult to find jackets and sweaters here?  If you’re cold, you can find a sweatshirt anywhere.  It usually says, “Disney”, or “I love Florida”, or  well, you know what I’m saying.  But what about those of us who like going to nice places but don’t want to broadcast to the world where we’ve been the day or the week or the year before.

Here’s where I want to praise all the wonderful boutiques, like Brigadoon’s in Naples, who cater to me and all the women like me, who are freezing in Florida.  There’s Peach Republic in Sanibel and Gallery Five in Tequesta.  There’s Beth’s Boutique in Pompano Beach and Vero Beach Museum of Art.  There’s  Giving Tree Wood Gallery and also Key Casuals, both in Sarasota. 

All these stores sell hundreds of beautiful women’s jackets because they all seem to know a very well kept secret.  IT’S COLD IN FLORIDA!

If you want to know of a few more stores down here that sell clothing with the typical woman in mind, please write me.  And if you know of any more boutiques that understand us, well please tell me because I’m back in my hotel room thawing out.   Tonight I’m going to have to go to dinner somewhere and you know the AC is going to be directed at me and only me!

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Choosing Colors to Wear Under Jackets

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Maria

Recently a customer wrote to me asking about what to wear with her four jackets she owned.  She said she wanted something other than black or white to wear underneath her jackets.  This made me realize that black is the only color I wear under my own jackets.  In fact, this is why I love jackets so much.  I wear jeans and a black top, or khakis and a black top, or black pants with a black top.  I put my beautiful, colorful jacket over my outfit and it brightens me right up.

 

My knee jerk reaction when this customer asked me about what other colors she could wear was, “What’s wrong with black?”.  Now I realize that’s really sad!  Didn’t I just speak to a store owner who told me she paired up one of her purple jackets with a lime top?  She said it looked fantastic, and her customers were responding to it.  And brights are in this spring.

 

The funny thing is, when  stores start showing particular colors for a season, our mind becomes accustomed to seeing them and suddenly they become almost like new basics.  I can’t think of a color that lime doesn’t go with.  But a few years ago, lime was exotic.

 

I think this customer was stuck in thinking she had to pick up one of the colors in the jacket and match it perfectly.  But sometimes this gives us a matchy match look that isn’t necessary.  Picking up a shade of one of the colors in her jacket could look beautiful.

 

The next time I’m shopping, I’m going to find a top with a new color that looks good on me.  And it’s not going to be black!

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Interesting problem/solution for our customers

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Maria

Referral: I’m a previous customer

Comments: I have purchased four of your reversible jackets. My problem is trying to find tops other than black and maybe white that would complement each. Any suggestions?

Sincerely,

Bonney

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Hello Bonney,

You want to wear a top that matches the color of your jacket and I agree that this could be a challenge.  I have to admit that I wear black under the jackets I wear.  But I would ask the shop owners to help.  I was speaking to a store owner in Michigan this week, and she was so excited because she had one  of our purple jackets hanging with one of the lime tops in the store and was getting good customer reaction. It’s nice to shop in boutiques because you can get a lot of help from the owners and assistants.  This is what I would suggest.  They can be very creative.  I know that lime goes with a lot of our jackets.  Gray can work too.  I don’t know which jackets you own but I suggest you go back to the stores to get help, or maybe you could tell me what patterns you own and I’ll try to help.

In the meanwhile, enjoy your jackets with your black tops.  I’m sure you look great! Thank you for being such a good Winding River customer.

Sincerely,

Maria Reisman  (owner)

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A TRAVEL JACKET FOR THE BUSINESS WOMAN

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Maria

The minute I see a magazine article that touts the beauty of making a million outfits out of one article of clothing, well I’m interested. I even wrote one of those articles in my first blog. And it sounded so easy in theory.

And while I can say that creating these  outfits out of one jacket is really easy, photographing them was a totally different story.  I kept dropping my camera, once while struggling to remove it from its tripod, and then again because it wasn’t on the tripod.

But it is true. You can make lots of outfits from one piece of clothing. I made ten outfits from matching up my one reversible jacket with six other articles of clothing. This goes to show when you travel, you can save space by planning ahead with a single jacket.

Here’s the recipe.

MONDAY TRAVEL DAY:  (Begin with one reversible jacket on yellow side.  Add white blouse and black shorts.)

MONDAY NIGHT DINNER:  (Take same jacket on same side.  Switch blouse and shorts to LBD.  Add pearls)

TUESDAY MEETING:  (Take same jacket on yellow side.  Add white blouse and black skirt.)

TUESDAY NIGHT DINNER:  (Switch  same jacket to black side.  Add heals)

WEDNESDAY TOUR DAY:  (Take same jacket on yellow side.  Add white blouse and white pants.)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT DINNER:  (Take same jacket and switch to black side.   Switch blouse and shorts to one LBD)

THURSDAY MEETING:  (Take same jacket on black side. Add black blouse and black shorts.)

THURSDAY NIGHT DINNER:  (Take same jacket on black side.  Switch black shorts to black skirt.)

FRIDAY TRAVEL DAY:  (Take same jacket on yellow side.  Add black blouse and black shorts.)

FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER:  (Take same jacket on yellow side. Switch black shorts to black skirt.  Add heals.)

I used seven items of clothing to make ten outfits, which certainly keeps baggage fees down.  (One jacket, two pairs of shorts, two blouses, one skirt and one black dress.)

I think it works for most business trips. Let me know your travel ideas.

Bon voyage!

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FASHION LESSONS FROM HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Maria

I had a fashion epiphany from high school girls this week. And no, I’m not going to start wearing mini skirts and tight sweaters. I’m not aiming to look like a high school kid, but they do know how to dress.

Let me explain. I was setting up for a show and there were high school girls all over the place and they all looked so tasteful and nice. I mentioned this to one of the mothers and she said that they were wearing dress code and uniforms. And then I saw it! They definitely were wearing dress code. Khaki pants or skirts and white shirts. But it was the accessories I was seeing! I mean, the cutest pumps and moccasins and loafers. Fishnet or lace or striped stockings. Beautiful bags. Stylish, yet conservative jewelry.

And I realized something I had been thinking all along but never saw so glaringly. Accessories are the paint on the pallet. The main outfit can be inexpensive and plain. But you dress it up with stockings or shoes and you have a smashing outfit! You can even carry the same beautiful handbag every day. Accessories don’t have to be excessive. You don’t have to wear a different pair of shoes every day. But if they’re beautiful and fashionable, they make the outfit. And now jackets and sweaters and scarves have become major fashion accessories. They can also be worn more than once a week and if it’s a reversible jacket, well nobody has to even know!

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8 THINGS OUR CLOTHES SAY ABOUT US

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Maria

You know you can’t tell a book by its cover.  But I wish you could.  It’s so confusing.  I once hired a babysitter who was dressed like a nurse on the interview.  She looked responsible, educated and she said she was coming from her job as an x-ray technician.  She showed up for work the next day in high heels, a mini skirt and tight top.  Now this wasn’t the same person I hired!  I was tricked!  But no, I really wasn’t because she ended up being the best babysitter ever.  So she tricked me twice, proving you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

But despite this, we do judge each other by what we wear.  Here are some things our minds say to us when we see another person:

1)This woman’s here to meet a man.
2)This woman’s respected in her profession.
3)This woman’s angry. (probably at her husband or parents or boyfriend or men in general or the economy, etc)
4)This woman’s scary.
5)This woman doesn’t want to be noticed.
6)This woman is like me.
7)This woman’s wealthy.
8)This woman has a stud in her nose.  I don’t know anything about her.  Can’t stop thinking about the stud.  So maybe it’ll have to be just seven things clothes tell us about others.

And maybe all these things aren’t even true anyway!  Maybe these clothes are just facades, hiding the true person inside.  All we can tell is what other people want us to believe about them.  But that says something, I guess.  That gives us a clue as to what the person values.  Still confusing.

But I know one thing that is definitely true because Mark Twain said so.  He said, “Naked people have little or no influence on society.”  Perish the thought that we’d have no influence on society!

So we put on our clothes, choosing what message we want to give and hoping that message is the one others get.  And after feeling really good about ourselves all day,  we come home and notice that spot of lipstick on our tooth that nobody told us was there.  What was the message they got?  This person’s sloppy or careless?   No, the message they got was this person is human.  And I guess that’s not such a bad message after all, right?  And there’s the eighth thing clothes say about us.

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WHAT WE KNOW THAT JUST AIN’T SO

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Maria

One of the benefits of getting old is that you learn what’s good for you and what things (or people) are just best to avoid. But sometimes this gets us into trouble. Mark Twain said it best (of course). “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

I have seen this in action when I work with women trying on our jackets. I watch as they put on these huge jackets so they can cover their butts or their stomachs or whatever “horrible” parts of their body they perceive to be wrong. They just assume their bodies have to be hidden to look good. Most of the time, what they see as bad, “just ain’t so.”

A smaller jacket with definition does show off those parts that a bigger jacket hides. But instead of a jacket hiding your body, it can be used to accent those parts perceived as bad. Women have curves, so let’s show them off. Let’s try on that shapely little jacket. Maybe we’ll see it ain’t so bad!

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THREE WAYS YOUR JACKET CAN UPDATE YOUR FALL WARDROBE

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Maria

 

I’m not trendy and I work with a few young women who are.  The minute little pumps or short dresses or cute anything comes out, there they are sporting it and looking terrific.  I dress the same no matter what style is in and this is why jackets will always come to my rescue.

A jacket is like an accessory.  Especially the way it’s used today.  Now a jacket is like an impulse item that stands on its own.  And it allows you to get trendy even if you’re not.

 

Picture of Dot Jacket

Dot Jacket

POLKA DOTS: Polka dots have become really popular. Marc Jacobs and Diane von Furstanberg have used them in their lines this season but us conservative types don’t have to buy an expensive dress or blouse to make this fashion statement.  A jacket can ease us into this trend because we can leave the house feeling a bit more updated and secure in the fact that the jacket can always be taken off leaving us with our more comfortable khaki and black top look.

Picture of a Shimmer Jacket

Shimmer Jacket

SHIMMER:  I love this trend because it’s been around for so long that it’s almost become classic.  A jacket with metallic tones can be worn for evening dress or surprise, surprise, with jeans, day or night.  Some lines carry metallic jackets that can be worn reversed so that the shiny goes away, giving us even more of a safety net in case our conservative self takes over.

Picture of a Colorblocking Jacket in Fleece

Colorblocking Jacket

COLORBLOCKING: I guess this is a resurgence from the 80’s but I was in a fog raising three little kids at the time and never noticed.  Colorblocking can be done in several ways.  We can take all our solid pieces, in my case it would be beige, black and white, and wear them all together, no printed scarves or blouses allowed.  Or we can take our trusty jacket that has already been colorblocked by a designer, and put it over our classic outfit to get that updated look.

Fall is here, so now we can experiment with our new updated, trendy look.  Our jackets can ease us into it so that by the time spring comes, maybe we’ll feel confident enough to buy that beautiful polka dot DVF. We’ll be able to leave our houses committed to the look and comfortable with the fact that we can’t change our minds in the middle of lunch and take it off.

 

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Why I hate new ideas

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Maria

I hate new ideas.  Well, not all new ideas: just other people’s new ideas.  At first I thought it was because I was “old” and resistant to change.  Then I noticed that whenever I began a conversation with, “I have an idea,” my twenty and thirty something teammates would get this look of terror.

OK, I’m the first to admit I’ve had some pretty bad ideas in my time. That jacket I designed that could be worn upside down, as well as right side up, did not fly.  The customers got confused when they tried putting it on.  A jacket that needs directions just to get on, well it’s  just not right.  We moved on.

So when the team approached me with the idea of having home jacket parties, something like Tupperware does, my knee jerk reaction was, “why?”   Why would anybody want to lug all those jackets into somebody’s home, spend a night watching people try them on and then have to return them all back to their correct places in the warehouse?  And we know that nobody’s going to want to make a profit on grandma so they’d probably end up selling them for cost.

But twenty to thirty seconds later I realized this might be a good idea.  The team would be able to get ideas from our end customers.  We (and notice I changed it to “we”) could find any flaws in our designs and get inspirations for new ones.  The team could design invitations which would give them experience in promoting a product.  They could create a buzz in the community. They would learn business concepts like how much their time was worth.  The positives kept popping up in my mind.

But the biggest realization I had, was how lucky I was to be surrounded by such energy and creativity.  There are a lot of good things about owning a small business, but one of the best rewards is seeing growth, not only in monetary profits, but in knowledge.

So now I say, bring it on.  I can take it because I know that any dumb idea you have, I can have dumber.  And who knows?  The next great, dumb idea might be a jacket that can be worn inside out with removable buttons.  Wait.  I think that was done already.

 

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